- Joined
- Dec 10, 2023
I've been thinking about this topic for a while and I want to make a thread, without posting in another dead one, about this topic and generate some discussion about it.
Personally, I have a fairly normal opinion on it. I think it's part natural, part manmade, and that we should ideally reduce our emissions by a realistic amount while holding the actual polluters (China & India mostly) accountable and make them change. However, I do think we should adapt to climate change. We're technically still in an ice age, and much more warming is expected, so it's best to adapt now than wait for later. Not saying that we should forcefully switch to EVs in the next five years, or we should cripple our electrical grid, but if we can make changes with minimal human impact, we should make those.
The one somewhat unpopular opinion I do have is climate change used to be mostly manmade. Between 1940 and 1980, sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions dramatically increased, and then decreased after this period as we began to switch to SO₂.
SO₂ in the atmosphere cools the planet, which is why major volcanic eruptions can cool the earth. For example, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, which can be easily spotted on the chart, and caused global temperatures to decrease by 0.5°C (0.9°F) for 2-3 years. This led to the fear of global cooling spreading around in the 70s, which can be seen in some covers of Time Magazine around this time.
Ever since we reduced our SO₂ emissions, the planet has been warming. This makes total sense, but the media has been completely manipulating this outcome and spinning it to fuel their own narrative.
What do you guys think, and am I possibly missing something in all of this?
Personally, I have a fairly normal opinion on it. I think it's part natural, part manmade, and that we should ideally reduce our emissions by a realistic amount while holding the actual polluters (China & India mostly) accountable and make them change. However, I do think we should adapt to climate change. We're technically still in an ice age, and much more warming is expected, so it's best to adapt now than wait for later. Not saying that we should forcefully switch to EVs in the next five years, or we should cripple our electrical grid, but if we can make changes with minimal human impact, we should make those.
The one somewhat unpopular opinion I do have is climate change used to be mostly manmade. Between 1940 and 1980, sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions dramatically increased, and then decreased after this period as we began to switch to SO₂.
SO₂ in the atmosphere cools the planet, which is why major volcanic eruptions can cool the earth. For example, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, which can be easily spotted on the chart, and caused global temperatures to decrease by 0.5°C (0.9°F) for 2-3 years. This led to the fear of global cooling spreading around in the 70s, which can be seen in some covers of Time Magazine around this time.
Ever since we reduced our SO₂ emissions, the planet has been warming. This makes total sense, but the media has been completely manipulating this outcome and spinning it to fuel their own narrative.
What do you guys think, and am I possibly missing something in all of this?